April 2009: Case studies presented at OSI-Sofia/Amalipe round table discussion and press conference

On 30 March, the Center for Interethnic Dialogue and Tolerance "Amalipe" and the Open Society Institute - Sofia hosted a round table conference on the impact the draft Public Education Act would have on the educational integration of Roma students.

Participants warned that the Act being proposed by the Ministry of Education does not support the efforts for educational integration of Roma children and, in fact, would leave thousands of Roma children out of school. The Act does not contain any article or paragraph related to the educational integration of Roma children, and constitutes a serious retreat from the Strategy for educational integration the Ministry of Education approved in 2004.

During the conference, OSI-Sofia presented a set of case studies of village and small town schools, which were produced as part of the Bulgarian follow-up project to the EUMAP monitoring on Equal Access to Quality Education for Roma, and which highlights the impact of the ongoing education reform. Copies of the Bulgarian-language version of the reports were distributed to all conference participants.

The conference was attended by over 50 school principals, Roma NGOS, educational experts and representatives of the National Association of Municipalities. It was followed by a press conference on the issue. Evropa TV and TV 7 broadcast interviews with Boyan Zahariev and Deyan Kolev and the national radio broadcast an interview with Theodora Krumova.

Much of the resulting media coverage highlighted the effects the proposed Law for secondary education would have on student drop-out rates among the Roma pupils.

Journalists cited Deyan Kolev, who said that the proposed change in the structure of primary education, which would be shortened from eight to seven years, would increase the early drop out rate among Roma children. Moreover, school principals at the conference warned, the move would lead to the closure of hundreds of schools in rural areas (many of them attended by Roma children).

Journalists also cited the proposal made during the conference to introduce full-time schooling in primary schools upon request by parents. Kolev noted that boarding schools for children until 8th grade would help Roma pupils (and majority group children as well) keep pace with the curriculum and reduce drop-out rates. The call by participants to envisage after-class activities in the new law was covered in press reports as well.

The suggestions participants at the meeting agreed on will be put forward to the Parliamentary Commission on Education, with the request that they are incorporated in the Law. In particular, participants stressed, the law needs to envisage specific measures against the segregation of Roma students.

Many participants noted that it would be better if the new Public Education Act is not voted on before the upcoming elections in July, as time will be too short to address the deficiencies of the present draft.

Selected media and web coverage links:

• Mediapool.bg: Ромските деца застрашени от още по-ранно отпадане от училище
• Focus: Директори и учители не се съгласиха с проектозакона за училищно образование
• Darik News: Ако основното образование e до 7 клас, хиляди ромчета ще отпаднат от училище
• Big.bg: Над 7000 ромски деца отпадат от училище всяка година
• Bglog.net: Директори и учители не се съгласиха с проектозакона за училищно образование
• Къде да уча?: 16% от ромските деца отпадат до 9-и клас
• Uchenik.com: 8000 роми напускат школата
• Български хелзинкски комитет: Училищни ръководители от цялата страна критикуваха проекта на Закон за училищното образование